10. William Wallace

Public Domain

This great warrior was a fiercely loyal Scottish landowner who willingly defied the bullying of the English nobles on behalf of his countrymen. He later led a wildly outnumbered and unprofessional army against well-trained advancing English forces in the Battle of Stirling Bridge, turning contemporary rules of engagement on their heads and earning a Scottish knighthood in the process. His success as a warrior was, however, short-lived; he won skirmishes here and there but lost the Battle of Falkirk and eventually become an English prisoner. He was hanged and then, while still alive, he was drawn and quartered.